A Prayer to Sîn and the Psalms

Abstract

The paper argues that scribes in Mesopotamia and Israel adapted prayers into various contexts for different purposes. The adaptations introduced were governed by the larger purposes of the prayer’s new context. The paper uses Pss 14 and 53 and Sin 6 to illustrate this point. Psalms 14 and 53 were adapted to fit into the larger purpose and message of the first and second Davidic Psalters, respectively, while Sin 6 was adapted into rituals or a collection of DINGIR.sA.DIB.BA prayers. The paper concludes that the purposes for which prayers were adapted were based upon setting, and that, as such, it is unwise to suggest that only corruptions in Vorlagen explain text differences.